What's Brainiac's best design? Out of all media.

[Jim Kelly]

I don't see much of a problem.

The Coluans created an artificial intelligence that is superior to their own. Being superior, Brainiac saw no reason to serve those that created it. As an artificial intelligence, Brainiac can support completely synthetic host bodies, but it also has the ability to take over organic lifeforms. Or it can create hybrid hosts that are both organic and synthetic.

Lex Luthor saw that he could upgrade Brainiac to an even higher level intelligence and Brainiac continues to upgrade its intellgence.

Brainiac collects samples of intelligent beings for study. It harvested Kandor, because it knew that Krypton was doomed and it wanted to save a sample from that planet before it was destroyed.

Brainiac might have a good reason for doing all the things that it does, but given it's so much more intelligent than any of us, we could never fully understand its perspective on the cosmos or its ultimate purpose.

[Slaughter]

I think making Brainiac a pure AI misses the point of Brainiac - Brainiac is not a cold calculating computer, he's a organic, physical being of blood and flesh (and metal and plastic and probably some graphene too) that acts like a cold calculating computer. Brainiac is the ultimate nightmare scenario of us becoming one with the machine. He's a computer in the original sense of the word - one who calculates/computes. The universe is numbers to him, everyone is numbers to him. Superman is a number that just happens to be very stubborn and doesn't want to enter the equation.

But here's the killshot - Brainiac is not a cold calculating computer because he hooks himself to computers and puts weird cybernetics on his head. That doesn't make him into a monster (otherwise Cyborg would be a monster, too). He's a cold calculating computer because he acts like one. At any moment, Brainiac could put a stop to it, free all these people, and start doing great good for the universe with all that knowledge. He doesn't. Not because he can't, because he won't.

[Jim Kelly]

Having just recently binge-watched WESTWORLD, I'm questioning where to draw the line between human and computer. That show really did a number on my brain.

[TheCape]

I never like Brainiac as an alien IA. I always thought the scary thing about robot villains was that we created them. Ever since the atomic bomb, it’s made sense that we would fear that are our technology would turn on us, that the weapons we build to defend ourselves would be our downfall. That’s what makes Ultron such a good villain, he’s not just an evil thug, he’s a reflection of his creator’s inner demons. But once you make it an alien robot, you take all the teeth out of the metaphor. It’s like Frankenstein’s Monster without Dr. Frankenstein. Now, it’s true that there are a lot of fine villains without any thematic unity or real-world anxieties to reflect. But all the really big deals need something. Some special relationship with the hero. Something interesting about their drive.

Hell, even in the Diniverse, which makes everything better, his motivation is that he’s a robot who’s programmed to learn everything, so to do that, he absorbs all the knowledge from a planet, then destroys it so it can’t learn anything new and make his knowledge incomplete. That just makes him a gray goo machine. He’s executing a simple directive to the point of causing harm. That’s not very epic. He doesn’t need to be defeated, he needs to be debugged!

[Slaughter]

Ultron gets even disturbing when you consider he's essentially a Hank Pym mind upload gonna wrong inside a robot body, but the movie Avengers 2 sadly had just Stark and Banner make Ultron.

If I uploaded myself into a robot body, and my duplicate decided that he's gonna Skynet humanity first thing, I would be immensely disturbed. Its not just "a robot", its "evil robot Hank Pym".

But once you make it an alien robot, you take all the teeth out of the metaphor.

Exactly. Brainiac is Krypton's fault (or Colu's), even if Krypton is dead. So its pretty much thrown on Kal-El (and Kara) because he's the last one around. Which already riffs in Zod's/Phantom Zoners' territory. Humanity got nothing to do with Krypton/Colu's AI gone bad.

Hell, even in the Diniverse, which makes everything better, his motivation is that he’s a robot who’s programmed to learn everything, so to do that, he absorbs all the knowledge from a planet, then destroys it so it can’t learn anything new and make his knowledge incomplete. That just makes him a gray goo machine. He’s executing a simple directive to the point of causing harm. That’s not very epic. He doesn’t need to be defeated, he needs to be debugged!

Brainiac 2.0 changelog:
- Fixed Bug: Doesn't destroy planets anymore

[TheCape]

Sorry folks.

[TheCape]

Sorry, nothing to see here anymore

[JBatmanFan05]

I've never come across just one Brainiac design that is definitely the best. There's always at least 2 or 3 equal-ish bests. The best designs are always lacking in some way. Not enough green. Too hokey. Too little classic elements. Or some inarticulable something.

So I guess I'm saying I'm waiting for "the best" to emerge. Some design to come along and say it covers the past and can cover the future of Brainiac appearances in comics (even though I think he benefits some from a variety of looks).

This pic here is a really good (the best) version of the STAS Brainiac design.
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Brainiac-1-0-98001556

[Jim Kelly]

I think there's a classic Brainiac story that never got fully told.

We know that the Computer Tyrants of Colu created Brainiac and imprinted the mental patterns of a regular humanoid Coluan on Brainiac's cybernetic cortex. Brainiac was to be their spy--and that's why he was fashioned as humanoid and had Brainiac 2--aka Virl Dox--pretending to be his son to complete the ruse. One might also assume that's when Brainiac adopted Koko the Space-Monkey--as having a pet is a humanoid quirk.

The job of a spy is to work in secret--collecting whole cities from alien planets doesn't fit that job description. There had to be a time before the city collecting, when Brainiac was just roaming around the galaxy as the humanoid emissary from Colu, using his diplomatic mission as a cover for gleaning intelligence on alien states.

That version of Brainiac had to be personable and engaging, someone that aliens were happy to have visit their little corner of the cosmos--welcomed with feasts and ceremonies. A bachelor father, the galactic envoy would attract many an amorous admirer.

Maybe one day Koko will write a tell-all book to draw back the curtain on Brainiac's espionage exploits.

[Montressor]

I loved the robotic look he took on in the 80's, with that awesome-looking skull-ship.

[Sacred Knight]

I've never come across just one Brainiac design that is definitely the best. There's always at least 2 or 3 equal-ish bests. The best designs are always lacking in some way. Not enough green. Too hokey. Too little classic elements. Or some inarticulable something.

So I guess I'm saying I'm waiting for "the best" to emerge. Some design to come along and say it covers the past and can cover the future of Brainiac appearances in comics (even though I think he benefits some from a variety of looks).

This pic here is a really good (the best) version of the STAS Brainiac design.
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Brainiac-1-0-98001556

That is boss. Though I would replace the white parts with black. And give him a Milton Fine-era inspired cape and you'd have three eras inspiring one look.

[Jim Kelly]

The way I see it, Brainiac isn't a cold computer. He's a sentient lifeform, albeit one that was created by computers. He has the mental patterns of a humanoid. The "artificial" aspect of the intelligence is mere semantics. If a being is intelligent and self-aware, isn't it just as real and conscious as people? Philosophically, until we can define what consciousness is, I don't reckon humans have a right to deem which other intelligent beings are at our level of consciousness.

Brainiac's many quirks, that set him apart from mere robots, might be part of his programming--something loaded into him by the Computer Tyrants so he could fool people into thinking he's human. But how can we divine this? For all we know, our own individual humanoid quirks are part of our programming and not a reflection of "soul."

One of my favourite Brainiac stories was "The Man Who Murdered Metropolis," in SUPERMAN No. 271 (January '74). Art was by Swan and Oksner and the script was by Elliot S! Maggin. Maggin invigorated the fight between Brainiac and Superman through the villain's taunts--strange puns that, if you understood them correctly, referenced the secret identity of Clark Kent. So Brainiac's cryptic gibes meant that he knew the alter ego of the Caped Kryptonian.

Question: why would a cold computer do that in such a novel way? Answer: a cold computer wouldn't. Brainiac has a sense of humour.

The thing that's different about Brainiac from organic foks is that his consciousness can exist outside of a specific vessel. So in that sense, the skull ship can be Brainiac, too. In the Geoff Johns/Gary Frank version, I had the feeling that once Superman is inside Brainiac's lair, everything is Brainiac. The humanoid Brainiac is not THE Brainiac--there is no one Brainiac per se. So Superman is at a loss to destroy him.

The Action Ace himself might not fully understand that his old foe is something more than a computer code. If Clark thought of Brainiac as a sentient being, he might balk at trying to kill the guy. But then, it's probably very hard to really kill Brainiac.

[Doctor Know]

Shout out to the various Brainiacs presented in Futures End and Convergence. Too bad both respective events weren't better executed and plotted.

This image is my favorite. With the Brainiac God, New 52 Vril Dox, Animated Series Brainy, Perez revamp, and the original short pants.

[Stanlos]

For me the Brainiac that is best visually is definitely the terrifyingly cold robot version with the floating headship to match. The cranial and face design creep me out a lot and as in 5th grade it actually used to give me nightmares LOL

[Slaughter]

Its funny, Brainaic fulffils a lot of slots on the Dynastic Centerpiece model:

Elder Statesman: God/Meta-Brainiac (AKA OG Brainiac) from Future's End/Convergence
Dynastic Centerpiece: Brainiac
Female Version: Indigo (AKA Brainiac 8)
Black Sheep: Vril Dox (AKA Brainiac 2), Brainiac 5
Junior Counterpart: Cyborg-Superman (Zor-El)?
Kid Sidekick: None that I know of.
Animal Companion: Koko the monkey.
Authority Figure: Brainiac's authority figure is himself. Meta-Brainiac counts too.
Civilian Companion: Milton Fine? Not quite a companion, but...